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Day 857

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Homeless people are amongst the most vulnerable in our society. The average age of death of a homeless person is 47 years for men and just 43 for women, as compared to 77 for the general female population.

Drugs and alcohol abuse account for just over a third of all deaths. Homeless people are over 9 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. Other common causes of death are traffic accidents, infections,falls and violence against them. 

Homelessness kills.

Walking around London it is clear that despite significant investment in the NHS and improvements in homelessness services they are not getting the help they need to address their health issues.

Walking around Trafalgar Square, one can’t miss the majestic Georgian church, St Martin-in-the-fields . It is a hospitable, vibrant, open and inclusive, forward thinking community with worship at its heart. The Revd. Dr Sam Wells is full of grace and wisdom. He always speaks to my heart. I look forward to hearing him at the special service being held there on Saturday, the 4th of March for families bereaved by suicide.

This poem by Sir Andrew Motion is a part of an Arts project run by the Church and is inscribed on the balustrade encircling the lightwell in the open space near the church:

Your stepping inwards from the air to earth
Winds round itself to meet the open sky
So vanishing becomes a second birth.
Fare well. Return. Fare well. Return again.
Here home and elsewhere share one mystery.
Here love and conscience sing the same refrain.
Here time leaps up. And strikes eternity.

Sources:

Crisis research from 2011:
http://www.crisis.org.uk/data/files/publications/Homelessness%20-%20a%20silent%20killer.pdf

St Martin-in-the-fields:
http://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/

Sir Andrew Motion:

Andrew Motion – Poems

Day 856

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Every investigation into an avoidable death is a learning opportunity for Trusts, clinicians, families, wards, patients, management, boards and the community. The lessons learnt can be passed on to other organisations and future generations. But unfortunately, often investigations are done in order to not find any deficiencies. They are defensive in nature rather than exploratory. They are reductive and analytical (Root cause Analysis) rather than holistic and empathic. Both approaches bring value to an investigation but often the greater good that can come out of them is overlooked.

200 avoidable deaths take place within the NHS every week. Each of them holds valuable lessons for the future but they are buried. Hence the same mistakes happen over and over again, costing more and more lives. In some organisations serious near-misses are recorded as ‘no-harm caused’.

We need collective intelligence, not individual genius. We need responsibility and accountability, personal and professional, shared and individual.

In 2015, a report was leaked to the BBC from Southern Trust that looks after 45,000 people. They had 1454 unexpected deaths over a 4 year period, 2011-2015. Of those, just 195 (13%) were treated by the trust as serious incidents requiring investigation. Deaths of adults with mental health issues were most likely to be investigated (30%). For those with learning disability the figure was 1%, and among over-65s with mental health problems it was just 0.3%.

“To err is human, to cover-up is unforgivable, to fail to learn is inexcusable.”
– Sir Liam Donaldson.

Ref: NHS Failure to probe deaths: Shocking: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35061716

Day 855

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Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

 

Day 854

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Hindu mythology speaks of gods and demons churning the great ocean to obtain nectar out of it to become immortal. A pot of poison emerges out of the great waters. The poison is so powerful that nobody can touch it. But Lord Shiva agrees to get rid of the poison by consuming it. He carefully holds the poison in his throat, which turns blue. On the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, which is today, devotees show their gratitude to this deity for thus having saved the world. He is considered to be the rockstar of Gods! Through fasting, chanting and meditation, we realise the Shiva element within us.

Shiva is the name of a silent, unseen, benevolent energy that makes up the whole universe. The sun, moon and stars adorn him. Rivers of knowledge flow through him. The mythical snakes associated with him represent an alive and aware consciousness that is the universe. Under his right foot, he crushes ignorance. He is the Lord of Dissolution, the space that holds energy, the medium of existence, without a beginning or an end. He stands for truth and beauty.

His cosmic dance is the dance of creation where millions of species are generated and they are all one consciousness. The dance is an interplay between material and spiritual realms of creation. His mythical blue body signifies the infinite sky. The sound of his drum denotes the expanding and collapsing nature of the universe. The fire in his hand stands for the primordial energy of the universe.

He lives on Kailash, a place where there is only celebration. He also dwells on cremation grounds where there is only void.

Divinity is present in a void as well as in celebration.

Om Namah Shivaya!

Day 853

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Today’s date has been in my diary for a few weeks and I have been eagerly looking forward to this day. One of my favourite musicians is performing in town and we have tickets! His name is A R Rahman, the winner of multiple national and international music awards and millions of hearts.

Despite a cold and a cough each, we both travelled for more than an hour to get to the other end of town. It was eerily quiet. I don’t trust myself with any information any more, especially not my memory. The street lights were too dim, like me, to read the date on the tickets. Under the phone torch we found the date to be 24/03/2017.

Well, we still have something exciting to look forward to.

This is one of his Sufi songs:

Kun Faya Kun
(Be. And it is.)

Advance your blessed feet. Appear!
Making the boundaries disappear,
May you fill this void, the abode of your Beloved.
Its empty without you, come fill this void.

O Dyer. We dye in Your colour.

Be, and it is!
When there was nothing, no where,
He was there.

He is the one who is in me,
He is the one in you,
Dear Lord is the one that is a Mystery. All around.
The Sublime, the Magnificent. Reveals the truth.

Colour my heart and my mind with Your colour, the Colour Divine!
In exchange, take all that is mine.

The morning showers its blessings when I adore You,
It purifies this dark night soul of mine.
My spirit’s nourishment comes from Your sanctuary,
O Master, O Beloved…

Be, and it is!
When there was nothing, no where,
He was there.
His Messenger, the Generous Prophet reveals the truth
The blessings and peace of God be upon him.
I pray to you, please free me from the bonds of myself,
Grant me visitation to my true countenance,
Free me from myself.

Carrying vanities of my mind,
burdens of my misdeeds,
Where do I go?
I have no idea!

You live within me, and now,
where have You brought me?

I live in You,
I follow only You,
I am but Your shadow.

You created me,
I did not fit in the world,
But You embraced me,
Only You are the Truth.
Only You are Real.

Be, and it is!